{"id":8433,"date":"2023-09-30T23:02:56","date_gmt":"2023-09-30T22:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=8433"},"modified":"2023-10-02T18:13:13","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T17:13:13","slug":"cherry-picking-by-the-seaside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=8433","title":{"rendered":"Cherry Picking by the Seaside"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1709876013\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1709876013?et=0dVBfv1sT9Rr3HNAhO7wxQ&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=V-XdLEaKuyR4wWAqB_Fxlvs8710JHI6Ss2owElzemFw=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>How\u2019s that for your Saturday football fix?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal enjoyed a calm and collected 4-0 triumph over AFC Bournemouth down on the South Coast to ramp up the pressure on Manchester City.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bukayo Saka got the scoring underway before expertly taken penalties from Martin \u00d8degaard, and later Kai Havertz with his first Gunners goal, before a Ben White header added some gloss to the scoreline in injury time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mikel Arteta made just one change from the disappointing derby draw against Spurs last weekend, with Kai Havertz replacing Fabio Vieira. To their credit, The Cherries started positively with lots of possession, albeit without really going anywhere with it. In contrast, Arsenal looked dangerous every time they came forward. Zinchenko tested Neto with a fierce drive from the edge of the area. And on 17 minutes, our class told. \u00d8degaard sent in a delicious cross to the far post from the right, Jes\u00fas headed it into the bar and the ball came out to Saka who nodded home into an empty net with the \u2018keeper stranded. 1-0 to The Arsenal!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rest of the half saw some excellent game management from Arsenal. It looked as though they were content with the hosts to have the ball, as if they believed as long as they kept their shape, there was not an awful lot The Cherries could do to hurt them. But, as always, when your team takes a 1-0 lead, there was a sense Arsenal needed that second goal. No matter how much control you may have over your opponents, this is football and any team can score a fluke goal or you can get a ridiculous red card and it can all go pear shaped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But today there were to be no such calamities for the Gunners. Just before the break, they won a penalty. Following a lovely interchange on the left-hand side between Zinchenko and Nketiah, the latter won a penalty after being tripped by Aarons in the box. Initially I thought he got the ball but replays clearly show he was nowhere near. \u00d8degaard stepped up to take it. The perfect chance for Arsenal to enjoy their half time oranges with some breathing space. The skipper stepped up and calmly sent Neto the wrong way hitting the ball low into the bottom corner. It was the kind of penalty where even if the \u2018keeper dived the right way he\u2019d get nowhere near it. 2-0 to The Arsenal at the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mikel Arteta\u2019s side were in complete control. But could they add to their lead? Or would they rest on their laurels? Given the upcoming schedule for Arsenal perhaps they could be forgiven for doing so. But merely six minutes into the second period, Arsenal were awarded a second penalty of the afternoon. This time, Martin \u00d8degaard was scythed down by Christie and despite a hilariously outrageous VAR check for some unknown reason, the decision stood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Up stepped the much-maligned Kai Havertz. Gulp. The German has been heavily criticised by large sections of the Arsenal fan base since he signed from the third best team in West London this summer. Could this be the moment where Kai finally got off the mark for his new club? Yes, it was. Another expertly taken spot kick with Neto again diving the wrong way. Havertz was mobbed by his teammates and the fans christened his new chant for the rest of the game. It was a nice touch from Saka and \u00d8degaard to pass up the opportunity to add to their tallies and give up the ball to their teammate who was in dire need of a confidence boost. Great stuff all round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The remainder of the game was played at walking pace, at Arsenal\u2019s leisure of course. It was like they had Bournemouth on a leash. Unless Arsenal\u2019s players deliberately started whacking the ball into their own net, The Cherries wouldn\u2019t have scored in a month of Sundays. Arteta used the gulf in the two side\u2019s class to give some fringe players valuable minutes in preparation for a big week in Arsenal\u2019s season in the league and in Europe. Off came Rice, Nketiah, Saka, Havertz and Zinchenko and on came Jorginho, Nelson, Smith Rowe, Vieira, and Tomiyasu. Jes\u00fas went close with a low drive, Smith Rowe had his one-on-one effort saved but right at the end Arsenal found their fourth. \u00d8degaard floated in a free kick and Ben White rose highest to nod home. 4-0 to the Arsenal.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We almost found the time to add a fifth as Smith Rowe fizzed an effort from the edge of the area that was beaten away by Neto but 4-0 was enough and it was a handsome afternoon for the Gunners who move up to joint second, just a point behind the Champions, Manchester City who rather unexpectedly lost at Wolves today. You can\u2019t ask for more than that.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is a good start to a crucial week in Arsenal\u2019s season, as they travel to Northern France to take on RC Lens on Matchday two of the Champions League where they know a win will see them take a big step towards qualifying for the knockout stages after Christmas. Then a week tomorrow, it\u2019s the big one as Manchester City come to town in a game which could go a long way to deciding the Title come the end of the season.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, a comfortable win which cannot be taken for granted in the Premier League and valuable ground gained on the champions. Oh, and United lost again. Fabulous stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Onwards\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images How\u2019s that for your Saturday football fix? Arsenal enjoyed a calm and collected 4-0 triumph over AFC Bournemouth down on the South Coast to ramp up the pressure on Manchester City.&nbsp; Bukayo Saka got the scoring underway before expertly taken penalties from Martin \u00d8degaard, and later Kai Havertz with his first [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8433"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8433"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8434,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8433\/revisions\/8434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}